SPAIN!

Hi everyone!! It has been SO long since I’ve gotten a post up – my apols! I have been traveling for quite some time and if you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat you are all up to speed where I’ve been. I went to Spain with boyfriend for the most magical trip – Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Marbella – followed by Fiji with a bunch of friends for a big crazy fun island trip!

I have so many Spain pics, so in an attempt to keep this post from being the longest ramble ever, I’m doing a big photo dump of my favorite meals, moments, and spots during our trip. I will caption each photo to describe what it is, but for the most part, the photos speak for themselves. In college, I spent a lot of time in France and Italy, but never made it to Spain and I really regret that now that I’ve experienced it! It is hands down one of my favorite travels up to this point in my life. The food, the culture, the people, the scenery, the beaches, the weather…I could go on and on.

One unfortunate detail of our trip is that one day into our trip, on a quick 50 min. flight from Barcelona to Bilbao (to drive to San Sebastian), Vueling lost my bag. This was not just a random bag, it was the only bag I packed on the trip (approx. 60lbs) containing every single item I was traveling with. As we stood at the baggage belt after boyfriend got his bag and it came to a screeching halt signifying that no more bags were to come, my heart sunk. I remained calm, knowing it couldn’t be far (probably just left in Barcelona) and would be on the next flight or at least be returned to me the next day. We went to the lost baggage counter and completed all of the necessary forms and complaints and went on to enjoy the rest of our day and dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. Since I was wearing white jean shorts and chambray button down, we had to run to Zara to get a dinner outfit, but I was still confident my bag would arrive the next day….

To make a long story short, my bag did not arrive the next day. Or the next. Or the next. By day 4 and many shopping trips to get toiletries, makeup, brushes, underwear, bikinis, casual clothes, dinner clothes, walking shoes, etc., I resolved my bag must have been stolen off the belt because there is no way any airline would let 72 hours pass without locating or updating on the status of a lost bag if they had it in their possession. After hours on the phone without being able to get a human being on the line and being beyond frustrated with the automated system repeatedly telling me there was no information, I had accepted the bag must be gone and was determined not to let my lost bag affect our trip. The bag contained a Chanel bag, a YSL bag, Balenciaga boots, YSL sandals, a Balmain jacket, etc. etc. and all of my makeup, toiletries, and personal items, BUT I knew it was all just STUFF and all replaceable. As hard as it is to part with material things, at the end of the day, you have to realize it’s all material and you still have all of the things that actually matter in life – your friends, family, and health. However, I did realize that when you’re traveling, that STUFF is your necessities. It’s all you have. When I was left with literally just the outfit on my back, I realized that expensive or not, your stuff is important when you have no other stuff available to you. I didn’t care about my Chanel bag, I wanted my underwear. My socks. My vitamins. My sweatshirt. My flat walking shoes. My face wash. My bathing suits to experience the San Sebastian and Marbella beaches all day. Those are the things I really needed and missed. So, we spent lots of money and time replacing those things. Boyfriend proved a million times over why he’s the guy for me and went to Sephora, MAC, Zara, and H&M to help me get the the things I needed to enjoy our trip. He asked questions about makeup, bathing suits, and sifted through clothes at Zara to find items I would like. I was so grateful to have someone care about me enough to put my needs ahead of his own and make my problem his problem and want to solve it enough to do that stuff for me.

Boyfriend also happened to have a very good friend in the airline business connect us with the CEO at Vueling, who got the ball rolling and located my bag, which was sitting in the Barcelona airport the entire fucking time. On the 7th and last day of our trip, it was returned to me. I was so grateful to have my personal belongings returned, but so appalled they had it in their possession the entire time and didn’t have the slightest sense of urgency to locate, update, and return lost bags to their owners. It was truly horrifying to me when I found out via social media how many people have had my exact same experience with Vueling. We’re talking hundreds. For 7 days my bag was a 45 minute flight away from me for zero reason other than nobody cared enough to do what needed to be done to get it back to me. Very disappointing, but that’s just life sometimes and it certainly won’t be the last time something like that happens.

Other than that slight deviation from our plans, the trip was an utter dream, and if I had to be anywhere without my bag, it would be Spain because nothing could have gotten me down there. This trip will go down in the books as one of my all time most special and favorite of my entire life and that says a lot. So, without further adieu, here are the pics – and I made sure to include lots of food because I know you guys wanna know that stuff!

poolside in Marbellatuna carpaccio

green salad

beach club in Marbellaan all day beach front lunch with endless delicious food

our favorite roseMarbellaspa daylate night Spanish coffeegrilled white fishsalt crusted sea basspoached sea basslobster with miso glazedinner in a very old Basque house that became a Michelin star restaurantfinally found a pair of YSL sandals to upgrade after days of wearing my 6 Euro flat espadrilles. hallelujah peace on earthmorning walks in San Sebastian (top – Zara)beautiful San SebastianSunday beach day in San Sebastian – was the BEST people watching of my life!pintxos hopping – Spanish tapas they have at every bar and you stop for a drink and a pintxos or two and move onspilling my soup at a fancy Michelin star spot, and of course boyfriend couldn’t let me off the hook without capturingdinner view

The next few photos are from the most AMAZING street market we found in Barcelona! We spend the entire morning cruising through and checking out all of the fresh foods available. I have never seen so much beautiful food in one place in my entire life. They had everything – if it was a food, it was there.

early morning cafes with bae

Paella!

Barcelona, The Segrada Familia:

Have any of you been to Spain, and if so, where?! And have you ever lost baggage on a long trip?

Thank you for sharing your amazing beautiful life with us. You’re such an inspiration to all of us women!!!

Yuri Dibble

Ah! I just signed up for my first international Marathon in Barcelona! What great timing!!

Thanks for sharing, the market looks amazing and will definitely be on my list of things not to miss 🙂

Caroline Catano

I was so stressed for you when you lost your bag & so happy when it was returned, BUT — I feel like the way you put together the most amazingly stylish looks even without all of your stuff speaks to the true fashionista that you are! Love all the pics and your ability to make the best out of a beyond annoying situation. XOXO

Omg bless your heart, that happened to me once but only for 2 days, so I can’t imagine how you felt after 7 days!!! Airlines can be so frustrating sometimes- I sure hope they compensated you in some way. What a wonderful boyfriend to help you re-stock all your necessities though!

so glad to hear that you were able to make the best of a stressful situation… and have a beautiful trip while doing so. boyfriend definitely sounds like a keeper for sure 🙂 so happy you also did end up getting your bag back. thanks for sharing your beautiful journey! xx

Samantha

My boyfriend and I are planning a month long trip to Barcelona, Portugal and Morocco next summer! I can’t wait to explore all three countries!

Rachel S.

Loving your Spain pics! I studied abroad in Spain twice in College (a summer in Barcelona and a semester in Granada), and absolutely loved it. I’m dying to go back, but also always want to explore new countries too! Terrible story about your bag. I have a fear of airlines losing my bags so always do carry on, even for 2 week trips, but your H&M outfits were pretty inspirational!

annicabenning

Annie, can you please share where your outfits and accessories are from (even if it’s just H&M/Zara!) They all look fab.

blawnde

Thank you so much for reading!! xo

blawnde

you will LOOOOOVE Barcelona! it is such a special place on earth! X

blawnde

aww, you were sooooo sweet and reassuring! it was def rough, but was determined not to let it affect our trip…and it didn’t! one of my favorite places I’ve ever been! xxo

blawnde

2 days or 7…1 is too long! it’s never a pleasant thing, but there are so many worse things that can happen in life so I just kept reminding myself how lucky I was to be in a beautiful place with a beautiful man who happens to be an all star makeup shopper! 🙂 xo

blawnde

thanks for the kind words and reading!! xo

blawnde

you will looooooove! We are discussing doing Morocco when we were planning this trip and decided to do it as part of another trip so let me know how you like it!!!! XO

blawnde

such a great place to study abroad! you are very lucky, it’s definitely one of my favorite places in the world! H&M def pulled through…and Zara! Funny what you can put together when you’re forced to make it work! xo

Jennifer

I think Spain sounds amazing and romantic especially with all the different cultures and terrain… Andalusian, Castile, Catalan… It’s funny to me as I’ve been reading your blog for a while if I were a friend of yours and found you’d lost access to your clothes & makeup I would be like “Oh no… sh!t is about to get real.” But I am so glad you were able to handle it and got your things back!

Rachel D.

wow! such beautiful photos! glad you had a wonderful time and such a sweet BF!
I have had my luggage lost when I came back from Ireland. I got it within 2 days, but I was scared because I had all my goods including souvenirs. Glad it all worked out. xx

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